


I'm here for you

by ayakocho



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: But they're here to help each other through them, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Lance (Voltron), M/M, Not Beta Read, One Shot, Shance Support Week 2018, Shiro has his own problems too, day 1: build me up, shance, this is set some time during season 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 19:08:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14118960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayakocho/pseuds/ayakocho
Summary: Lance is frustrated that he is making no progress in training with his bayard's latest upgrade and negative thoughts consume him. Thankfully Shiro is there to convince him otherwise.





	I'm here for you

Lance ducked as the training bot swung its sword over his head. He brought up his own sword to slice its abdomen but the training bot was fast and moved out of the way before charging at him again. Lance tightened his grip on his sword’s hilt and moved to block the attack. For a moment they were equal, neither of them willing to yield, and Lance put all his strength into pushing the training bot back. Eventually, the training bot had to shift its stance to better accommodate the force Lance was using, and thus gave Lance an opening. He used his leg and sword to push himself away from the training bot, causing the bot itself to fall in the other direction. Lance used this moment where the bot was unbalanced to deal the finishing blow, cutting a deep gash across the bot’s torso. 

Lance sat down to catch his breath as he watched the training bot return to pixels, his bayard carelessly thrown aside. His lungs and arms and legs were burning. Was training always this tiring? And that had only been level 1 of the training simulation… 

Lance groaned in frustration.

It had taken a week of training with his new bayard for him to draw with the training bot, and another week for him to finally defeat the first level. 

Lance had watched Keith train before. He knew what an expert sword fighter looked like, and it was nothing like him now. Keith had mastered the use of his bayard in the span of a few weeks even though he had never used a sword to fight before. Level 1 would have been a walk in the park for him, unlike Lance who was still short of breath and sweating profusely.

Lance wondered why his bayard even shifted into a sword in the first place.

He was a sharpshooter, not a swordsman; protecting others from afar rather than getting directly involved in fights. He wasn’t strong enough for that.

Maybe getting the sword was a mistake (even quintessence-sensing bayards make mistakes once in awhile right?).

Lance picked up his discarded bayard and watched as it shifted into the form of an Altean broadsword. He remembered when Allura had told him it was the same sword King Alfor had used. He wanted to make Allura proud and prove that he was worthy of wielding such a great weapon. 

He wanted to see the greatness Allura saw in him.

But the past two weeks of training had only shown him how terribly inept he was. He was just an average Cuban boy, nothing more and nothing less. There was no greatness within him or anything that made him special. He was barely useful in fights with his long-range weapon, and no one saw him as anything more than a noisy, talkative, annoying flirt. He didn’t deserve to wield a sword as great as this.

Lance continued to sit in the training room, lost in his thoughts. It was normal for him to spend hours just staring into space and thinking about himself, about what he lacked, comparing himself to others and seeing how useless he was.

So lost in thought he was he didn’t hear the door to the training room open, nor did he notice the person making their way towards him until they were right in front of him. It wasn't until Shiro sat in front of him that he noticed the other man.

“Shiro! You can't just appear out of nowhere and scare me!” 

Shiro chuckled at his reaction. “I called your name several times but you didn't respond. Can't blame me for not trying.”

“Oh.” Lance cast his gaze downwards. “Sorry. I was just thinking about...training stuff.”

Shiro sighed and took one of Lance's hands and held it in his. “Lance, I know you weren't just thinking about training. You ran off after dinner and you weren't in our room or any of your usual spots. Is there something bothering you? You know you can tell me anything right?”

Lance smiled. Shiro was always so patient with him. He never forced Lance to tell him anything he wasn’t ready to share and always listened to any complaints Lance had. Honestly how had he managed to land a boyfriend as good as Shiro? That man was way too good for him.

“I’m fine,” Lance insisted. He gave Shiro’s hand a light squeeze, hoping that the other man understood that it would take some time before he was willing to open up about his problems.

Shiro seemed reluctant to drop the issue but complied in the end. He gave Lance a look that told him they were going to continue this conversation at a later time before changing the topic.

“So, what training were you doing in here? Doesn’t look like your usual routine.”

Lance flashed Shiro a small, thankful smile and Shiro smiled back.

“Well, it doesn’t look like my usual training routine because it isn’t,” Lance replied. He showed his sword bayard to Shiro who looked surprised to see it. “I was trying to learn how to use this thing so I tried a different training simulation instead. Might as well use it since it was given to me.”

“Which simulation did you run?”

“The one with the...gladiator.”

“You mean the one with the gladiator robot that was so hard that even Keith barely managed to clear level 3 and ended up needing to use the healing pod because his injuries were too severe.”

“Yeah… That one…”

“Lance.” 

Shiro was giving him his Disappointed Dad Look™ and Lance pouted.

“I know it was dumb of me to try such a difficult mode as a beginner. But I made sure to end the simulation whenever things got too difficult to handle and I even managed to clear level 1 today!”

Shiro sighed. “Lance, I’m not saying you’re not capable of defeating the gladiator. I’m just worried because you haven’t used a sword in battle before. I don’t ever want to see you in a healing pod again.”

“I’m not weak, Shiro.”

Lance glared resolutely at the floor. He knew Shiro was just concerned about his wellbeing, but still it had hurt when his  _ boyfriend _ pointed out that he was just an inexperienced sword fighter, as though Lance wasn’t aware how 2 weeks of training had brought him almost no progress in mastery of the weapon.

“Lance. I’m not saying you’re weak. I’m just worried.”

Lance frowned and resolved to continue staring at the floor. 

“Lance.”

Lance pressed his lips into a tight line, refusing to respond.

“Lance, please.” 

Lance could practically see Shiro running his free hand through his hair. It was a nervous tick that Shiro himself didn’t seem to realise he had.

“I said something that hurt you didn’t I?”

A nod and more silence.

“Is it possibly related to the reason why you were moping around in the training room?”

“I was not moping,” Lance grumbled.

“Lance, look at me please?”

Shiro gently placed a hand on Lance’s cheek and Lance let him tilt his head up. 

“Lance,” Shiro began. He was looking right into Lance’s eyes, grey meeting blue. “I’m sorry if the words I used implied that you were weak. It was poor phrasing on my part. You are anything but weak. I’ve seen you take down platoons of Galra sentries alone. I’ve seen how you always put the safety of your friends above anything else, and how you risk your own safety to keep them safe. Lance, you are one of the strongest people I know.”

Lance desperately searched Shiro’s face for any sign that he was lying, but all he saw was the determination burning in his eyes; the determination to convince Lance that everything his mind was telling him about himself was a lie.

“I know you may not believe me. I know there are some days when your negative thoughts get the better of you and you drown in them. But that’s why I’m here. As your friend and lover, I’m here to support you through your bad days, to prove you and your insecurities wrong. Lance, let me be here for you.”

Shiro spoke with such fondness it surprised Lance. He didn’t know what to make of Shiro’s words. He could tell that Shiro wasn’t lying, that he meant each and every word. But his mind desperately refused to let him believe in them. And when Shiro had said that last line with such desperation and love and need, it was the tipping point for Lance. 

Lance launched himself at Shiro, hugging him with all his might. Lance knew he was crying and getting tears and snot all over Shiro’s shirt, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want to let go of Shiro now. 

Shiro didn’t seem to mind, however. He simply shifted to accommodate the presence of Lance in his lap, and remained silent the entire time. One of his hands was rubbing circles into Lance’s shoulder and the other was wrapped tightly around Lance, holding him in place.

The soothing sensation on his back and the grounding effect of Shiro’s arm around his waist soon calmed Lance down. 

“Sorry for dirtying your shirt,” Lance apologized after somewhat detaching himself from Shiro.

“It’s alright. Are you feeling better now?”

“Yeah. A little. Guess I just needed a good hug from a handsome guy.”

Shiro chuckled. “Glad I could be of service.”

They sat in silence for awhile. Shiro was still rubbing soothing circles into Lance’s back and Lance was simply enjoying the intimacy their current position granted.

“You know, I meant every word I said.”

Lance looked up at Shiro who was smiling down at him.

“...I know.”

Lance hadn’t realised he had said that out loud till he saw the smile on Shiro’s face grow.

“Good.”

 

x

 

“You know if you wanted to practice using your bayard’s sword, I could be your sparring partner.”

Lance tilted his head to stare at Shiro from where he was lying on his lap. The two of them had agreed that they couldn’t stay in one position forever and had eventually shifted into other more comfortable positions.

“What would you fight with though?” Lance asked.

“I have my hand. I think it’ll be more than enough.”

“But won’t that be unfair? I mean, I have a sword and you have an…arm.”

“The Galra don’t play fair Lance. It would be good training for you to get used to your new bayard and for me to practice fighting against an armed opponent. Besides, this isn’t the first time I’ve fought with a disadvantage.”

Lance nodded. It made sense since Shiro couldn’t use his bayard so his Galra hand would be the next best choice as a weapon. And most Galran sentries and soldiers were armed with either gun or sword. But Lance couldn’t help but feel squeamish at the idea of fighting at an unarmed Shiro. It took a few moments for Lance to realise why.

“Wait, Shiro. When you said this isn’t the first time you fought at a disadvantage were you referring to…that?”

Shiro nodded.

“Then that means… Oh.” Lance sat up facing Shiro. “Oh shit. Okay that’s it. I am not fighting you when you don’t have a weapon to defend yourself with. I can just…train by myself. I'll use the easier training simulation and slowly work my way up from there. You don’t have to do this for me Shiro.”

“Lance, it’s okay. I want to do this. Like I said, I want to be there for you. Let me help you.”

“No Shiro it is not okay. You’re still having nightmares. It’s still affecting you and I don't want to be the reason it gets worse.”

“Lance, calm down.”

“Shiro, I am anything but calm. Do no ask me to calm down.”

“Lance.”

“Shiro.”

Knowing that neither of them were going to yield, Shiro sighed. He took both of Lance’s hands into his and intertwined their fingers. 

Lance looked at their joined hands then at Shiro.

Shiro was smiling at him, but his eyes were distant. His mind seemed to be somewhere else. 

They sat in a comfortable silence. Shiro thinking about whatever he was thinking about and Lance patiently waiting for Shiro to say what he wanted to. 

Eventually, Shiro seemed to return to his body and he tightened his grip on Lance’s hands.

“I was thinking…” Shiro started “about what you said. And Lance, you're right. I still have nightmares about...my time in the arena and I don't think those will be stopping any time soon. But training with you isn't going to make them worse. Nothing can be worse than that.”

Lance wanted to argue that yes, training with him could be worse because there were so many chances of triggering a flashback, but Shiro gave him a look telling him to listen first, speak later.

“Ever since we started going out, and maybe even before then, you've been helping me come to terms and face my memories of the arena. If it wasn't for you, I would probably still be forcing myself to stay awake to avoid having those nightmares. So since you’ve already helped me…”

Lance gasped as he met Shiro’s love-filled gaze.

“...Let me help you this time alright?”

“Okay,” Lance croaked. He could feel tears threatening to fall again and the lump in his throat made it hard to talk or breathe. He simply held onto Shiro’s big warm hands as tightly as he could.

Shiro was the one to unwind their hands. He stood up and dusted himself off before offering his hand which Lance graciously accepted. 

“We can begin training tomorrow. I doubt you can fight in your current condition,” Shiro said as he helped Lance up.

“And whose fault is that,” Lance scoffed.

“Mine. But I don’t regret it.”

Shiro moved to stand in front of Lance.

“I’m glad,” Lance said. “That you’re here for me. Even though I’m a wreck sometimes.”

“It is my pleasure. After all, we’re lovers who support-”

“-and bring out the best in each other. Don’t go about stealing my lines now, Mr. Shirogane.”

“Sorry? I think you’ve got the wrong person. My surname is Shirogane-McClain, not Shirogane.”

Lance gasped.

“You!” Lance sputtered. He could feel the heat rising to his face and knew that he probably looked like a ripe tomato at that moment. “That was unfair!”

Shiro chuckled. “All is fair in love and war, Lance.”

“We’ll see about that during training tomorrow.”

“I look forward to it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> This is like 2 days late (it's 28th March where I am). Whoops.
> 
> Actually, the original idea was to write Shiro and Lance training together. But one thing led to another and eventually this happened.
> 
> Anyway, if you have any suggestions/complaints about the story do let me know in the comments! :)


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